https://www.scmp.com/rss/326779/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Apple has updated guidelines on its Chinese app developer website to reflect the latest government policy that requires the licensing of all apps for local users, signalling the US tech giant will once again move to comply with changing regulations amid ongoing tensions between Washington and Beijing. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter. China is set to enforce a policy to address a major loophole in its ‘Great Firewall’ that allows citizens using Apple’s App... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3236679/apple-changes-china-app-store-rules-and-expected-restrict-access-foreign-apps-regulatory-scrutiny?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3236679/apple-changes-china-app-store-rules-and-expected-restrict-access-foreign-apps-regulatory-scrutiny?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Oct 2023 13:00:16 +0000 For many students around the world, the illicit book-sharing website Library Genesis has been a lifeline of free primary texts and scientific knowledge. It is such a widely accepted resource for free books that the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law posted a link to the site on its official Weibo account in July 2021, even as other users complained on the microblogging site about it being blocked by the Great Firewall. A piece of Web3 technology called Interplanetary File System (IPFS),... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3172431/web3-tech-helps-banned-books-piracy-site-library-genesis-slip?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3172431/web3-tech-helps-banned-books-piracy-site-library-genesis-slip?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Apr 2022 02:30:24 +0000 The top US senators on the committee that oversees trade urged the Biden administration to fight back against nations including China and Russia after a new report found that their censorship actions hurt internet users and hinder American companies like Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. Senators Ron Wyden, a Democrat and chairman of the Finance Committee, and Mike Crapo, the senior Republican, called on the US to use its trade tools against the nations, as well as Turkey, Vietnam,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3165021/us-lawmakers-urge-joe-biden-fight-china-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3165021/us-lawmakers-urge-joe-biden-fight-china-over?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Jan 2022 18:28:12 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng Chinese investors in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are finding ways of circumventing restrictions that have effectively outlawed their preferred assets even after Binance and Huobi, two major crypto trading platforms, have vowed to purge mainland users. The platforms’ announcements come at the end of a rough year for Chinese crypto traders, who have seen online communities shut down, pricing websites go dark, and major exchanges severing services. Harsher measures from exchanges come after... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3161243/chinas-cryptocurrency-investors-keep-faith-even-exchanges-binance-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3161243/chinas-cryptocurrency-investors-keep-faith-even-exchanges-binance-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Dec 2021 06:45:12 +0000 Concerns that the world’s largest video game platform Steam was blocked in China on Christmas Day have spread on social media as gamers complained about issues connecting to the website days after it kicked off its popular year-end sale. Access to the store appears to be facing intermittent connectivity issues in different parts of mainland China, with some users saying they had no problems connecting. The government did not issue any announcements about Steam, nor did Valve Corp, the platform’s... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3161180/chinas-gaming-crackdown-concerns-about-steam-ban-heightened-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3161180/chinas-gaming-crackdown-concerns-about-steam-ban-heightened-after?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Dec 2021 12:00:15 +0000 China’s digital revolution has affected most profoundly the lives of its post-90s generation. These digital natives, like their counterparts elsewhere, were born when the commercial use of computers was becoming widespread and grew up alongside mobile phones and the internet. As Chinese sociologist Li Chunling, author of the new book China’s Youth, points out, the internet has become “enmeshed within every aspect of young people’s lives”. In turn, this massive post-90s cohort of more than 175... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3149821/young-and-liberal-chinas-post-90s-digital-natives-are-force-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3149821/young-and-liberal-chinas-post-90s-digital-natives-are-force-change?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Sep 2021 23:56:45 +0000 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday defended the measures that his predecessor Mike Pompeo took against the American operations of Chinese media outlets, calling them out for “undermining democracy”. The US and China began restricting and expelling each other’s journalists in February 2020, when the State Department declared several mainland Chinese media outlets, including state news agency Xinhua and the state-run English-language newspaper China Daily, to be foreign government... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3131507/us-secretary-state-antony-blinken-defends-trump-era-moves?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3131507/us-secretary-state-antony-blinken-defends-trump-era-moves?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Apr 2021 21:03:34 +0000 I am writing to respond to Vicky Chan’s letter “Good call on real names for all Hong Kong mobile phone numbers” (March 5). Ms Chan contends that crime reduction supersedes privacy concerns in setting out her support for assigning real names to mobile phone numbers. However, the experience of China would suggest that there are fewer advantages to using a real name to register SIM cards than it would initially seem. In 2016, the Chinese government announced that it would implement a real-name... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3126429/will-chinese-censorship-follow-real-name-registration-hong-kong-sim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3126429/will-chinese-censorship-follow-real-name-registration-hong-kong-sim?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Mar 2021 22:15:18 +0000 Every Tuesday and Thursday, Inkstone Explains unravels the ideas and context behind the headlines to help you understand news about China. Stretching along the entire border of mainland China is an invisible barrier, dubbed the Great Firewall, that keeps out information that the Chinese authorities deem inappropriate. Sites such as Facebook, Google, Twitter – and Inkstone – are inaccessible in the mainland thanks to this metaphorical wall. The list of banned websites is ever expanding. While... https://www.scmp.com/tech/inkstone-explains-how-china-engineers-alternative-internet-its-people/article/3088426?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/inkstone-explains-how-china-engineers-alternative-internet-its-people/article/3088426?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jun 2020 10:17:33 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS More people in Hong Kong are downloading VPNs (virtual private networks) after China’s central authorities announced a plan to bypass the local legislature and draw up its own national security law for the city last week.  Atlas VPN says installations of the cyber tool surged by more than six-fold on Thursday, when Beijing revealed its proposal. Installations continued to rise by three-fold the next day, adding up to a 150-time increase in just seven... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/news-bites/article/3086134/hong-kongers-scramble-vpns-beijing-plans-national-security-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/news-bites/article/3086134/hong-kongers-scramble-vpns-beijing-plans-national-security-law?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2020 09:42:39 +0000 More people in Hong Kong are downloading VPNs (virtual private networks) after China’s central authorities announced a plan to bypass the local legislature and draw up its own national security law for the city last week.  Atlas VPN says installations of the cyber tool surged by more than six-fold on Thursday, when Beijing revealed its proposal. Installations continued to rise by three-fold the next day, adding up to a 150-time increase in just seven days by Sunday. NordVPN, another provider,... https://www.scmp.com/china-tech-city/hong-kongers-scramble-vpns-beijing-plans-national-security-law/article/3086109?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china-tech-city/hong-kongers-scramble-vpns-beijing-plans-national-security-law/article/3086109?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2020 09:42:35 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Work collaboration and note-taking app Notion is no longer accessible in China, according to its San Francisco-based owner. “Notion is blocked by a firewall in China. We are monitoring the situation and will continue to post updates,” the company said in a tweet posted Sunday evening local time. Notion’s app lets anyone from individual users to entire workplaces and classrooms organize digital documents, take notes, set up to-do lists and team up with... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/culture/article/3085953/us-work-collaboration-app-notion-blocked-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/culture/article/3085953/us-work-collaboration-app-notion-blocked-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 May 2020 09:18:40 +0000 Some regions in China are once again able to use Notion after the work collaboration and note-taking app became inaccessible in the country on Monday, according to its San Francisco-based owner.  “We're already observing the ban being lifted across the country, and hope to see even more progress over the next few days,” a Notion representative told Abacus on Tuesday.  Notion tweeted on Sunday evening local time that it was “blocked by a firewall in China.”   Notion’s app lets anyone from... https://www.scmp.com/culture/us-work-collaboration-app-notion-blocked-china/article/3085892?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/us-work-collaboration-app-notion-blocked-china/article/3085892?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 May 2020 09:18:38 +0000 Downloads of virtual private network (VPN) software and apps have surged after China’s central government announced that it would pass a new national security law tailor-made for Hong Kong, sparking fears among some netizens of increased surveillance and censorship from Beijing. Hours after news of the new law broke on Thursday, leading provider NordVPN said it received 120 times more inquiries about its service than the day before and the number was “growing every hour.” This was “one of the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/vpn-downloads-surge-hong-kong-china-prepares-new-national-security-law/article/3085698?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/vpn-downloads-surge-hong-kong-china-prepares-new-national-security-law/article/3085698?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 May 2020 13:28:49 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Millions of pieces of user data from an adult live-streaming service were left open to the public, according to a new report from cybersecurity review site Safety Detectives. The records from CAM4.com, a site that offers explicit webcam performances, include names, emails, sexual orientation and chat transcripts. The leak was plugged after researchers notified the site, and there’s no evidence that criminals got hold of any of the data. Still, the hole... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/news-bites/article/3083157/adult-live-streaming-site-exposes-millions-user-records?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/news-bites/article/3083157/adult-live-streaming-site-exposes-millions-user-records?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 May 2020 09:01:05 +0000 Millions of pieces of user data from an adult live-streaming service were left open to the public, according to a new report from cybersecurity review site Safety Detectives. The records from CAM4.com, a site that offers explicit webcam performances, include names, emails, sexual orientation and chat transcripts. The leak was plugged after researchers notified the site, and there’s no evidence that criminals got hold of any of the data. Still, the hole could have left users exposed to various... https://www.scmp.com/china-tech-city/adult-live-streaming-site-exposes-millions-user-records/article/3083137?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china-tech-city/adult-live-streaming-site-exposes-millions-user-records/article/3083137?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 May 2020 09:01:02 +0000 Three Chinese volunteers who helped to publish censored Covid-19 articles on Github, the world’s largest open-source website, have been detained by police at an unknown location, according to a source close to them. The trio – Cai Wei, his girlfriend, a woman surnamed Tang, and Chen Mei – were contributors to a crowd-sourced project known as Terminus2049 that began in 2018 and collected articles that had been removed from mainstream media outlets and social media. Microsoft-owned Github lets... https://www.scmp.com/culture/activists-detained-china-after-sharing-coronavirus-content-github/article/3081704?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/activists-detained-china-after-sharing-coronavirus-content-github/article/3081704?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Apr 2020 07:47:07 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS The coronavirus pandemic has shown just how essential the internet has become to modern life. Many people confined at home have relied on it to work, socialise and order the things they need for daily life. But it’s also something that only half of the world’s population has access to. Companies in the US and China have been racing to change that by using low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to drench the world in internet coverage. The hope is to reach... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3080118/why-coronavirus-slowed-chinas-plan-take-elon-musks-internet-satellites?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3080118/why-coronavirus-slowed-chinas-plan-take-elon-musks-internet-satellites?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2020 15:49:01 +0000 The coronavirus pandemic has shown just how essential the internet has become to modern life. Many people confined at home have relied on it to work, socialize and order the things they need for daily life. But it’s also something that only half of the world’s population has access to. Companies in the US and China have been racing to change that by using low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to drench the world in internet coverage. The hope is to reach areas that land-based cables can’t cover. In... https://www.scmp.com/tech/why-coronavirus-slowed-chinas-plan-take-elon-musks-internet-satellites/article/3080013?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/why-coronavirus-slowed-chinas-plan-take-elon-musks-internet-satellites/article/3080013?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2020 15:48:58 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS If you happen to be browsing Chinese social media these days, you might stumble across posts that appear to be a random jumble of Chinese characters and emojis. This isn’t some modern day secret language concocted by China’s youth; it’s an elaborate way to fight censorship targeting a doctor who blew the lid on the country’s mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak. Ai Fen is the director of the emergency department at a hospital in Wuhan, the centre of... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/culture/article/3074748/censored-coronavirus-news-shows-again-emoji-morse-code-and-ancient?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/culture/article/3074748/censored-coronavirus-news-shows-again-emoji-morse-code-and-ancient?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2020 15:22:21 +0000 If you happen to be browsing Chinese social media these days, you might stumble across posts that appear to be a random jumble of Chinese characters and emoji. This isn’t some modern day secret language concocted by China’s youth; it’s an elaborate way to fight censorship targeting a doctor who blew the lid on the country’s mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak. Ai Fen is the director of the emergency department at a hospital in Wuhan, the center of the Covid-19 epidemic. She recently gave an... https://www.scmp.com/culture/censored-coronavirus-news-shows-again-emoji-morse-code-and-ancient-chinese/article/3074611?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/censored-coronavirus-news-shows-again-emoji-morse-code-and-ancient-chinese/article/3074611?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2020 15:22:20 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Offices and factories were shut down. Residential compounds were under partial lockdown. But life went on: As people hunkered down at home during the spread of the coronavirus epidemic in China, those looking to kill time have been turning to games, sports… and, apparently, pornography. Searches for the word “maopian” (a Chinese nickname for porn that roughly translates as “hair movie”) surged on China’s biggest search engine over Lunar New Year,... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3074481/people-are-searching-porn-while-stuck-home-during-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3074481/people-are-searching-porn-while-stuck-home-during-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2020 11:30:54 +0000 Offices and factories were shut down. Residential compounds were under partial lockdown. But life went on: As people hunkered down at home during the spread of the coronavirus epidemic in China, those looking to kill time have been turning to games, sports… and, apparently, pornography. Searches for the word “maopian” (a Chinese nickname for porn that roughly translates as “hair movie”) surged on China’s biggest search engine over Lunar New Year, according to numbers obtained from Baidu Index.... https://www.scmp.com/tech/people-are-searching-porn-while-stuck-home-during-coronavirus/article/3074405?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/people-are-searching-porn-while-stuck-home-during-coronavirus/article/3074405?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2020 11:30:53 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Early last month, some Chinese social media users had an inkling that their discussions about a spreading deadly pathogen were being censored. Behind the Great Firewall, internet users said they suddenly saw their WeChat accounts suspended for “spreading rumors,” if they were given a reason at all. Now a new report is giving us a glimpse into how China’s most popular messaging app might be blocking online chats about the new coronavirus epidemic. The... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/culture/article/3065030/wechat-reportedly-censors-messages-about-coronavirus-even-when?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/culture/article/3065030/wechat-reportedly-censors-messages-about-coronavirus-even-when?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2020 10:45:41 +0000 Early last month, some Chinese social media users had an inkling that their discussions about a spreading deadly pathogen were being censored. Behind the Great Firewall, internet users said they suddenly saw their WeChat accounts suspended for “spreading rumors,” if they were given a reason at all. Now a new report is giving us a glimpse into how China’s most popular messaging app might be blocking online chats about the new coronavirus epidemic.   The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab created... https://www.scmp.com/culture/wechat-reportedly-censors-messages-about-coronavirus-even-when-theyre-true/article/3064966?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/wechat-reportedly-censors-messages-about-coronavirus-even-when-theyre-true/article/3064966?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2020 10:45:40 +0000 Archive of Our Own (AO3), one of the world’s biggest fanfiction sites, appeared to be blocked in China on Saturday as regulators further tightened internet controls, with some users furiously blaming fans of a popular actor for the government’s action. “Unfortunately, the Archive of Our Own is currently inaccessible in China,” the Organization for Transformative Works, a US non-profit group that operates AO3, said on its Twitter account. “We've investigated, and it is not due to anything on our... https://www.scmp.com/culture/china-blocked-one-internets-biggest-fanfiction-sites/article/3064760?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/china-blocked-one-internets-biggest-fanfiction-sites/article/3064760?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2020 10:04:18 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Plague Inc., a popular game that lets players create a pathogen to wipe out humanity, is no longer available to mainland Chinese users of Steam -- Valve’s online game store. But the title remains accessible to users in other countries. This comes just days after the mobile version of the game was taken down from China’s iOS App Store, where it became the most downloaded paid game. The game was released nearly eight years ago, but it saw a resurgence in... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/news-bites/article/3064597/plague-inc-vanishes-steam-and-apples-app-store-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/news-bites/article/3064597/plague-inc-vanishes-steam-and-apples-app-store-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2020 07:48:41 +0000 Plague Inc., a popular game that lets players create a pathogen to wipe out humanity, is no longer available to mainland Chinese users of Steam -- Valve’s online game store. But the title remains accessible to users in other countries. This comes just days after the mobile version of the game was taken down from China’s iOS App Store, where it became the most downloaded paid game. The game was released nearly eight years ago, but it saw a resurgence in popularity after the coronavirus... https://www.scmp.com/china-tech-city/plague-inc-vanishes-steam-and-apples-app-store-china/article/3064589?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/china-tech-city/plague-inc-vanishes-steam-and-apples-app-store-china/article/3064589?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2020 07:48:40 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Information control is usually tight in China, but now popular microblogging site Weibo is authenticating accounts discussing the new coronavirus. The company says it’s an attempt to verify information about the disease outbreak. How Weibo became China’s most popular blogging platform Just as verified Twitter accounts get a coveted blue check next to their profile names, verified Weibo accounts are marked with a golden “V.” The Chinese platform says it... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/culture/article/3048467/weibo-verifies-profiles-desperate-bloggers-center-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/culture/article/3048467/weibo-verifies-profiles-desperate-bloggers-center-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Jan 2020 11:52:41 +0000 Information control is usually tight in China, but now popular microblogging site Weibo is authenticating accounts discussing the new coronavirus. The company says it’s an attempt to verify information about the disease outbreak.   Just as verified Twitter accounts get a coveted blue check next to their profile names, verified Weibo accounts are marked with a golden “V.” The Chinese platform says it recently sped up the verification of 131 profiles, about a third of which belong to doctors and... https://www.scmp.com/culture/weibo-verifies-profiles-desperate-bloggers-center-coronavirus-outbreak/article/3048380?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/weibo-verifies-profiles-desperate-bloggers-center-coronavirus-outbreak/article/3048380?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Jan 2020 11:52:39 +0000 Chinese internet users rarely have the opportunity to vent their anger at local government officials on social media because of the country’s strict censorship, but the coronavirus outbreak may have changed that – at least temporarily. Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging site, and Tencent Holdings’ ubiquitous WeChat all-purpose app, have emerged as channels for criticism directed at the government of Hubei, the province in central China at the epicentre of the outbreak, with 1,771 new confirmed... https://www.scmp.com/culture/anger-social-media-over-china-coronavirus-outbreak-goes-uncensored/article/3048111?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/anger-social-media-over-china-coronavirus-outbreak-goes-uncensored/article/3048111?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jan 2020 13:12:23 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Over the course of a year, Apple took down 805 apps in mainland China by its own account. In Apple’s latest transparency report accounting for the first half of 2019, the iPhone maker said it removed 288 apps from China’s iOS App Store for both legal and policy violations. The Apple Transparency Report goes out twice a year and details requests received from government agencies and private parties worldwide. The report lists government requests to... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3048047/apple-removed-805-apps-china-2018-2019?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3048047/apple-removed-805-apps-china-2018-2019?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jan 2020 07:21:03 +0000 Over the course of a year, Apple took down 805 apps in mainland China by its own account. In Apple’s latest transparency report accounting for the first half of 2019, the iPhone maker said it removed 288 apps from China’s iOS App Store for both legal and policy violations. The Apple Transparency Report goes out twice a year and details requests received from government agencies and private parties worldwide. The report lists government requests to access information on accounts and devices, but... https://www.scmp.com/tech/apple-removed-805-apps-china-2018-2019/article/3047325?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/apple-removed-805-apps-china-2018-2019/article/3047325?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jan 2020 07:21:02 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Is Chinese spyware running on Samsung phones? In a startling post this week, a Reddit user who ran an analysis on a self-owned Galaxy S10+ claimed that the handset was found to be communicating with servers in China. Samsung’s Device Care storage tool is operated in partnership with China’s biggest cybersecurity firm, Qihoo 360. When some users found out last year, Samsung responded by saying the tool “does not transfer any personal information” off a... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3045627/why-are-samsung-smartphones-talking-servers-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3045627/why-are-samsung-smartphones-talking-servers-china?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jan 2020 13:44:01 +0000 Is Chinese spyware running on Samsung phones? In a startling post this week, a Reddit user who ran an analysis on a self-owned Galaxy S10+ claimed that the handset was found to be communicating with servers in China. Samsung’s Device Care storage tool is operated in partnership with China’s biggest cybersecurity firm, Qihoo 360. When some users found out last year, Samsung responded by saying the tool “does not transfer any personal information” off a handset to optimize storage. But that... https://www.scmp.com/tech/why-are-samsung-smartphones-talking-servers-china/article/3045520?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/why-are-samsung-smartphones-talking-servers-china/article/3045520?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jan 2020 13:44:00 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Police in China arrested a man for selling VPN software that helps circumvent the country’s stringent online censorship system. VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks, are the most common tools used in China to hop over the Great Firewall and access foreign websites and apps including Facebook, Google and news sites. The story of China’s Great Firewall, the world’s most sophisticated censorship system “People use it for ordinary things, to watch videos and... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3044407/man-arrested-selling-vpn-hop-great-firewall?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3044407/man-arrested-selling-vpn-hop-great-firewall?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Jan 2020 00:00:15 +0000 Police in China arrested a man for selling VPN software that helps circumvent the country’s stringent online censorship system. VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks, are the most common tools used in China to hop over the Great Firewall and access foreign websites and apps including Facebook, Google and news sites.   “People use it for ordinary things, to watch videos and read the news,” said the man, known under the pseudonym Gao, to local media. He added that he didn’t think users were doing... https://www.scmp.com/tech/man-arrested-selling-vpn-hop-great-firewall/article/3044339?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/man-arrested-selling-vpn-hop-great-firewall/article/3044339?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Jan 2020 00:00:13 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS The funny thing about technology is how quickly innovation can become normal. I went back to mainland China about a dozen times this year. I had my face scanned at airports, paid for things with my phone, and occasionally saw robot waiters bring food to my table. Maybe the technologies behind all of those things weren't totally unfathomable in 2010. But the pace at which it’s all become just a routine part of daily life in China was hard to imagine just... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3044031/flip-phones-smartphones-growing-chinas-decade-tech-transformation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3044031/flip-phones-smartphones-growing-chinas-decade-tech-transformation?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Dec 2019 04:00:22 +0000 The funny thing about technology is how quickly innovation can become normal. I went back to mainland China about a dozen times this year. I had my face scanned at airports, paid for things with my phone, and occasionally saw robot waiters bring food to my table. Maybe the technologies behind all of those things weren't totally unfathomable in 2010. But the pace at which it’s all become just a routine part of daily life in China was hard to imagine just ten years ago. In 2010, I was in high... https://www.scmp.com/tech/flip-phones-smartphones-growing-chinas-decade-tech-transformation/article/3043926?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/flip-phones-smartphones-growing-chinas-decade-tech-transformation/article/3043926?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Dec 2019 04:00:20 +0000 In a short online video, a Chinese man with a round face and a buzz cut pops open a beer cap with a single chopstick. After a sip, he quickly lifts the bottle to his mouth while giving it a few sharp turns. A small “tornado” forms in the bottle, and Hebei Pangzai, or “Fatty from Hebei province”, as the 34-year-old is known on Twitter, drinks it all in seconds. Hebei Pangzai’s real name is Liu Shichao. The odd job laborer hails from Zhengyuansi, a nondescript village where everyone knows... https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-villager-who-becomes-twitter-sensation-tornado-beer-and-brick-breaking/article/3043216?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/chinese-villager-who-becomes-twitter-sensation-tornado-beer-and-brick-breaking/article/3043216?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Dec 2019 06:00:19 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS From Baby Yoda to the US-China trade war, everyone has their own favourite and least favourite moments of 2019. But if there’s one thing that unites us, it’s that we searched for these moments online. Each year Google publishes a list of the 10 most-searched keywords of the year. Since Google is the world’s most prevalent search engine, it’s a useful proxy for what piqued the world’s interest over the last 12 months. But China doesn’t have access to... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3042350/baidu-vs-google-2019s-searches-inside-and-outside-chinas-great-firewall?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3042350/baidu-vs-google-2019s-searches-inside-and-outside-chinas-great-firewall?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Dec 2019 14:01:15 +0000 From Baby Yoda to the US-China trade war, everyone has their own favorite and least favorite moments of 2019. But if there’s one thing that unites us, it’s that we searched for these moments online. Each year Google publishes a list of the 10 most-searched keywords of the year. Since Google is the world’s most prevalent search engine, it’s a useful proxy for what piqued the world’s interest over the last 12 months. But China doesn’t have access to Google. So home-grown Baidu, China’s dominant... https://www.scmp.com/tech/baidu-vs-google-searching-inside-and-outside-chinas-great-firewall-2019/article/3042300?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/baidu-vs-google-searching-inside-and-outside-chinas-great-firewall-2019/article/3042300?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Dec 2019 14:01:13 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Google has a complex history with China. Over the past 20 years, the company has made compromises to operate in China, exited the country and then planned a return that was later nixed. Google’s back and forth on China can’t be attributed to any one leader. But the reason Google currently doesn’t operate in China can be largely traced back to Alphabet President Sergey Brin, who made a surprise announcement yesterday with Google co-founder and Alphabet... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3040647/google-both-pursued-and-abandoned-china-under-larry-page-and-sergey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3040647/google-both-pursued-and-abandoned-china-under-larry-page-and-sergey?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Dec 2019 13:19:42 +0000 Google has a complex history with China. Over the past 20 years, the company has made compromises to operate in China, exited the country and then planned a return that was later nixed. Google’s back and forth on China can’t be attributed to any one leader. But the reason Google currently doesn’t operate in China can be largely traced back to Alphabet President Sergey Brin, who made a surprise announcement yesterday with Google co-founder and Alphabet CEO Larry Page that they’re stepping down... https://www.scmp.com/tech/google-both-pursued-and-abandoned-china-under-larry-page-and-sergey-brin/article/3040506?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/google-both-pursued-and-abandoned-china-under-larry-page-and-sergey-brin/article/3040506?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Dec 2019 13:19:40 +0000 Feroza Aziz started her TikTok video like a typical makeup tutorial, telling viewers she would show them how to get long eyelashes. Then the 17-year-old stopped abruptly, calling instead on viewers to start researching the harrowing conditions facing Muslims in China’s detention camps.   The surprising bit of modern satire quickly went viral on TikTok, the short-video app and global phenomenon owned by a Beijing-based tech firm. But in the hours afterward, Aziz’s TikTokprofile was suspended. By... https://www.scmp.com/tech/teen-locked-out-tiktok-account-after-criticizing-chinas-xinjiang-camps/article/3039551?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/teen-locked-out-tiktok-account-after-criticizing-chinas-xinjiang-camps/article/3039551?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Nov 2019 11:30:08 +0000 Jiang Ting is not your average K-pop fan from China. The 35-year-old from Inner Mongolia has turned her detailed knowledge of Korean pop stars into actual entries in the world’s biggest Chinese encyclopedia and earned prizes for it. Back in 2013, Jiang was crazy about 2PM, a South Korean K-pop group. After getting tired of repeatedly regaling new fans of 2PM with background details on band members and live performances, Jiang decided to write an article on Baidu Baike, run by Chinese search... https://www.scmp.com/tech/baidus-alternative-wikipedia-worlds-largest-chinese-encyclopedia/article/3038563?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/baidus-alternative-wikipedia-worlds-largest-chinese-encyclopedia/article/3038563?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Nov 2019 08:50:57 +0000 This article originally appeared on ABACUS Hackers from China are some of the best in the world. But now that they’ve been discouraged by their government from participating in foreign hacking competitions, teams are instead converging on Tianfu Cup -- the country’s most elite competitive cybersecurity event. Over the weekend, teams from Qihoo 360 and others hacked into some of the world’s most popular Wi-Fi routers, web browsers and other software. Qihoo 360, China’s biggest cybersecurity firm,... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3038326/chinese-hackers-break-chrome-microsoft-edge-and-safari-competition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3038326/chinese-hackers-break-chrome-microsoft-edge-and-safari-competition?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Nov 2019 02:00:11 +0000 Hackers from China are some of the best in the world. But now that they’ve been discouraged by their government from participating in foreign hacking competitions, teams are instead converging on Tianfu Cup -- the country’s most elite competitive cybersecurity event. Over the weekend, teams from Qihoo 360 and others hacked into some of the world’s most popular Wi-Fi routers, web browsers and other software.   The organizers of Tianfu Cup say the event is designed to be a Chinese version of... https://www.scmp.com/tech/chinese-hackers-break-chrome-microsoft-edge-and-safari-competition/article/3038220?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/chinese-hackers-break-chrome-microsoft-edge-and-safari-competition/article/3038220?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Nov 2019 02:00:10 +0000 Xinmei Shen Xinmei Shen This article originally appeared on ABACUS There was a time when Mark Zuckerberg seemed to like China and China liked him back. But recent comments from the Facebook CEO now have some Chinese internet users saying he’s betraying the country. Following recent speeches showing Zuckerberg taking a harder line on China, one article circulating on WeChat was vividly titled “‘China’s good son-in-law’ Zuckerberg suddenly stabbed his ‘father-in-law’ in the back.” The sense of betrayal might stem from... https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3038298/chinese-netizens-think-mark-zuckerberg-betrayed-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3038298/chinese-netizens-think-mark-zuckerberg-betrayed-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Nov 2019 14:04:22 +0000 Xinmei Shen Xinmei Shen There was a time when Mark Zuckerberg seemed to like China and China liked him back. But recent comments from the Facebook CEO now have some Chinese internet users saying he’s betraying the country. Following recent speeches showing Zuckerberg taking a harder line on China, one article circulating on WeChat was vividly titled “‘China’s good son-in-law’ Zuckerberg suddenly stabbed his ‘father-in-law’ in the back.”   The sense of betrayal might stem from the fact that it was just a few years ago... https://www.scmp.com/tech/chinese-netizens-think-mark-zuckerberg-betrayed-china/article/3037879?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/chinese-netizens-think-mark-zuckerberg-betrayed-china/article/3037879?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Nov 2019 14:04:21 +0000